176:, between the boiling heat of the sun-facing side and the frozen wasteland of the night side. Local inhabitants are mostly divided between two diametrically opposite urban locations: Xiosphant, an authoritarian city where citizens' actions are tightly controlled and any deviation is severely punished, and Argelo, a wild anarchy run by competing criminal gangs. On the fringe, traveling between the cities, are groups like the Citizens, who take the road as their home.
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theft committed by Bianca. There, she is rescued by the "crocodiles", who are not dangerous predators like humans think, but an intelligent native species, present long before the humans, which communicates telepathically. Sophie learns to communicate with them, and, with their aid, covertly returns to
Xiosphant, with the understanding that she will continue coming back to visit them.
27:
231:, describes the book as "a story about how grand social ideas break, and who gets hurt worst in the breaking", a fable-like tale of action and adventure which, through an intimate depiction of intrapersonal relationships, takes a look "at our moment in history" through the distorting lens of its setting. According to Adam Roberts of
227:, and remarks how Anders employs the contrast between the two to probe philosophy and ethics, with the "raw, painful honesty" of the characters and their diversity helping to convincingly portray the larger issues, social and environmental, which are the focus of the novel. Jason Sheehan, reviewing for
207:, the author notes how her interest in tidally locked planets led her to write the story. She states that exploring scientific research on the subject led her to describe how human life could adapt on such a planet, although there is an inevitable trade-off between accuracy and dramatic requirements.
179:
The plot alternates between two principal characters. Sophie, from
Xiosphant, has both a position in an elite university and a crush on Bianca, her school roommate who is also a student radical. Sophie is expelled from the city and thrown into the freezing wilderness when she takes the blame for a
183:
The second main protagonist is Mouth, a former
Citizen disturbed by the group's violent destruction on the road, as she attempts to build a new life as a trader. The two story arcs rapidly coalesce, with the connection being initially catalysed by Bianca looking for help with her political plans.
221:, notes how the book's alien setting, which is far from any realistic depiction of climate change, is a "critical form of defamiliarization" and a way to discuss a familiar contemporary subject without retreading old tales. She compares the dichotomy between the two urban centers to Le Guin's
240:
Anders' story diverges from other works in its genre not so much because of the underlying themes, but in how it strays from the recognisable cautionary tales and instead lays out an approach to living meaningful lives amidst a devastated environment. It is a long story whose main narrative,
241:
according to
Roberts, is that of the possible rapprochement between humans and aliens who live in an atmosphere of mutual disgust. He notes that this is "well done", although not particularly original, comparing it with plot lines from
152:
planet, where human life, surrounded by hostile alien life, is mostly divided between two archetypically different urban sites. The main story focuses on two characters whose actions take them outside of the cities.
237:, it is a "millenial's novel", and the characters, sometimes judgmental and self-righteous, ultimately also show sophistication and passion, combining to deliver a heartfelt tale.
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This rapidly evolves into a series of dangerous travels that take the characters across the planet, from
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It explores themes of personal relationships, mixed with coverage of contemporary social and political issues as depicted in its alien setting.
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before stepping down to concentrate on her writing career.
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1221:The Kaiju Preservation Society
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432:"2020 Locus Awards Winners"
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959:The Years of Rice and Salt
646:Best Science Fiction Novel
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551:All the Birds in the Sky
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256:Arthur C. Clarke Award
1337:Climate change novels
1282:Best Young Adult Book
1162:The Calculating Stars
1150:The Collapsing Empire
685:The Many-Colored Land
1322:2019 American novels
1190:Charlie Jane Anders
1167:Mary Robinette Kowal
964:Kim Stanley Robinson
888:The Rise of Endymion
881:Kim Stanley Robinson
857:Lois McMaster Bujold
845:Kim Stanley Robinson
821:Lois McMaster Bujold
804:The Fall of Hyperion
745:Speaker for the Dead
528:Charlie Jane Anders
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247:episodes featuring
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1264:Best Fantasy Novel
1066:Blackout/All Clear
721:The Integral Trees
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1155:John Scalzi
1138:Death's End
1095:John Scalzi
1078:Embassytown
995:Accelerando
976:Dan Simmons
935:The Telling
893:Dan Simmons
809:Dan Simmons
797:Dan Simmons
733:The Postman
726:Larry Niven
666:John Varley
642:Locus Award
449:Works cited
201:Writing in
1316:Categories
1252:Best Novel
1131:Ann Leckie
1119:Ann Leckie
1054:Boneshaker
840:Green Mars
762:David Brin
738:David Brin
714:David Brin
690:Julian May
270:References
188:Background
166:far future
140:is a 2019
50:Mark Smith
1143:Liu Cixin
1090:Redshirts
876:Blue Mars
543:Choir Boy
526:Works by
461:Tor Books
289:Macmillan
244:Star Trek
211:Reception
144:novel by
106:Hardcover
77:Tor Books
73:Publisher
816:Barrayar
792:Hyperion
601:" (2017)
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55:Language
1031:Anathem
947:Passage
491:Tor.com
168:, on a
160:Summary
58:English
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112:Awards
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661:Titan
653:1980s
63:Genre
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